The European Survey of Road users’ safety Attitudes (ESRA) together with VIAS Institute are organizing the ESRA: 10 years of global road safety insights and impact which will take place in Brussels, Belgium on 24 June 2025. This Event is a unique opportunity to reflect on the evolution of the ESRA initiative and its impact on road safety policy. Key findings from 10 years of research will be presented, unveiling a dedicated report and the new ESRA dashboard, and will be explored how these insights can drive future improvements in road safety. Furthermore, ESRA4 will be introduced, the next phase in the mission to create safer roads through data-driven strategies. 

The Dutch Institute for Road Safety (SWOV) is organizing the Trendline 2025 Conference which will take place in The Hague, Netherlands on 10-11 June 2025, a key event for professionals working with road safety data, policy, and innovation. This Conference will present the results of the initial road safety KPIs (and compare these with the Baseline values), discuss the methodologies for the new KPIs, and show how KPIs can be used to support road safety policies. This Event is expected bring together partners from across Europe and the participants will be updated on the next phase of Trendline.   Participation is free upon registration.

The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT) οf the Centre for Research and Technology (CERTH/EKETA) together with the Road Tolls Service-Electronic Management of Road Infrastructure (YOT-HDOY) are organizing a two-day workshop titled “Data Quality and NAP Best Practices” in the framework of the European Commission NAPCORE project, which will take place in Athens, Greece on 5-6 May 2025. The aim of this Event is to bring together the participants of the Working Group 3 of the Project to discuss the current status, the future prospects and the progress of National Access Points in the EU. Participation is free upon registration.

A paper titled Laboratory of Traffic Engineering authored by  Lv Yisheng , George Yannis and Eleni Vlahogianni, has been published in IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine. This paper focuses on the Laboratory of Traffic Engineering of NTUA (LTE), established in 1998. The mission of the NTUA LTE is to provide scientists and engineers with a high level of education and to promote research in the field of traffic engineering. The LTE’s educational and research activities are characterized by high innovation, excellent organization, and great utility for society. The LTE contributes to a vast spectrum of scientific fields, including predictive traffic management, road safety, and connected and cooperative automated mobility (CCAM). Some of the indicative Projects of LTE are: DIT4TRAM, PHOEBE, IMPROVA, FRODDO and SHOW. 

A paper titled Investigation of hit-and-run crash severity through explainable machine learning authored by Stella Roussou, Apostolos Ziakopoulos and George Yannis, has been published in Transportation Letters. This study, uses a 5-year dataset from Victoria, Australia and analyzed with CatBoost algorithms and SHAP values using explainable machine learning techniques, to highlight key severity factors. Findings suggest that the presence of police at the crash scene emerges as the most critical determinant, underscoring the importance of law enforcement in mitigating severe crash outcomes. Furthermore crashes involving passenger vehicles and those on weekends were also linked to higher severity. These novel findings offer valuable insights for targeted interventions and policy-making to mitigate the impact of severe hit-and-run crashes and enhance road safety. 

A paper titled Analyzing the safety effects of different operating speeds for an autonomous shuttle bus service authored by Maria Oikonomou, Marios Sekadakis, Christos Katrakazas and George Yannis has been published in Traffic Safety Research. This study utilizes microscopic simulation analysis in order to quantify the impact of road safety of an automated shuttle bus service within traffic. In the traffic network of Villaverde, Madrid, several scenarios were simulated using the Aimsun software considering the various CAV MPRs and the different operational speeds of the service, namely 15, 30, and 45 km/h. The analysis revealed that the conflict frequency is lower when the shuttle bus operates at 45 or 30 km/h compared to 15 km/h, with the 45 km/h speed showing the largest reduction. This reduction in conflicts is probably due to the shuttle bus adapting more easily to the average traffic speed and is more synchronized with traffic flow. The current study establishes a solid relationship for the conflict frequency of AV shuttles enabling stakeholders to optimize road safety towards a future of automated traffic. 

WHO Regional Office for Europe together with Vias institute are organizing the 3rd E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes (ESRA3) Webinar which will take place online, on 7 May 2025 focusing on supporting road safety insights, policies and practices. The Webinar topics concern:  Linking ESRA and the WHO Global Status Report – Overview, Key Insights, and the Road Ahead of ESRA Initiative – Speeding Behaviour and Support for 30km/h Zones – Gender Specific Risk and Policy in Road Safety – ESRA3 Insights from Latin America – Age and Impaired Driving.  Participation is free upon registration    

CSR Hellas organized with great success the CSR-Atelier#6 which took place in Athens, Greece on 3 April 2025 under the theme “Health and Safety“. This Event included presentations focusing on concepts, techniques and tools for workplace risk identification and assessment, as well as a discussion on road safety in supply chains.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

• Operational Fleet Road Safety Management

The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) together with the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) have launched “Learn – Ride – Enjoy – Repeat”, a European-wide Campaign designed to encourage novice and experienced riders to take high-quality voluntary motorcycle training. This Campaign aims to inspire European riders to take the next step in their journey by enrolling in certified training programmes, ensuring more riders have access to advanced tools and knowledge to enjoy motorcycling safely and responsibly. The Campaign builds on the success of the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label – voluntary certification of high-quality post-license training courses across Europe. As motorcycling continues to serve as a key mobility and leisure tool for millions across Europe, improving rider safety remains a top priority.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Single Vehicle Crashes Facts and Figures Report which looks at single vehicle fatalities, which means fatalities in crashes including only one moving vehicle. According to this Report, in the EU in 2022, 6,369 people were killed in a single vehicle crash and the number has decreased by 11% in the last decade and amounts to 35% of all road fatalities. Moreover the share of single vehicle fatalities within all road fatalities is highest in Southern and Western Europe. Furthermore, there are proportionally more single vehicle fatalities during weekends both during daytime (26%) and nights (16%) compared to other road user fatalities (21% during daytime and 9% at night).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Serious Injuries Facts and Figures Report which looks  at serious injuries resulting from road crashes in EU and EFTA countries. According to this Report, the police-based data indicates an average decrease of 19% in serious injuries over the decade 2012-2022, as well as average around 8 serious injuries for every road fatality on EU roads (France and Italy excluded among others). Moreover, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) make up a large share of serious injuries (57% EU average), with most of the serious injuries in the EU occurring on urban roads, accounting for 57%, half of which are pedestrians.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Regional Distribution Facts and Figures Report which looks at the regional distribution of road fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, the number of fatalities per million inhabitants  is highest in Eastern Europe. Some of the regions with the highest mortality rates can be found in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. In most countries, there are regions with a comparatively low mortality rate as well as a comparatively high one. Furthermore, the trend in the rate over time tends to vary between regions. In Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia there has been a decrease in all regions. Furthermore, Regarding road types, the share of fatalities on rural roads within the total number of fatalities is high in Central, North and West Europe, while the rate for urban roads is high in East and South Europe.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Powered Two-Wheelers Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities at motorcycle and moped riders’ fatalities on EU roads. According to this Report, respectively, 3% and 16% of all road fatalities in the EU in 2022 were moped riders and motorcyclists. Taken together therefore, almost one in five road fatalities were powered two wheeler riders. Moreover, in fatal moped and motorcycle crashes, often no other road user was involved as 29% and 37% of moped riders and motorcyclists respectively died in a single vehicle crash (i.e. a crash with no crash opponent).  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Pedestrians Facts and Figures Report which looks at pedestrian fatalities on European roads. According to this Report, almost one in five of all road fatalities across the EU were pedestrians. The absolute number of pedestrian fatalities fell from 5,410 to 3,740 fatalities between 2012 and 2022 (-31%), which is a greater decrease compared to the decrease for the total number of road fatalities (-22%). Furthermore, around 1 in 2 pedestrian fatalities (47%) in 2022 were seniors aged 65 or older.

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the New Forms of Mobility Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities of users of motorized micro-mobility devices and pedelecs on European roads. According to this Report, in 2022, 76 motorized micro-mobility device fatalities and 385 pedelec fatalities were recorded in the 15 European countries reporting data on these transport modes. Furthermore, the share of fatalities on motorized micro-mobility devices on urban roads, where all transport modes are represented, amounts to 72% in 2022, while fatalities on pedelecs are lower with a share of 50% on urban roads.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Gender Facts and Figures Report which looks at fatalities on European roads distributed by gender. According to this Report, in 2022, the share of males among fatally injured road users was 77% male versus 23% of female fatalities within the EU countries. The ratio of male to female fatalities has been stable between 2012 and 2022. Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Portugal have a share of male fatalities of 80% or higher. The absolute number of male fatalities has decreased by 21% in the period 2012-2022 and the number of female fatalities by 25% in the same time period.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Cyclists Facts and Figures Report which refers to cyclist fatalities on EU roads. According to this Report, in contrast to the number of fatalities in crashes with other modes of transport, the number of cyclists killed on EU roads has remained at more or less the same level for the past decade: since 2012 a decrease of -3%, since 2019 a decrease of -1%. In 2022, half of all cyclist fatalities (50%) were cyclists aged 65 years or older on average and more than half of cyclist fatalities occurred in crashes on urban roads (57%), 42% on rural roads and 1% on motorways.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Children Facts and Figures Report which looks at road fatalities among children on EU roads. According to this Report, the absolute number of fatalities among children aged 0-14 decreased between 2012 and 2022 by 33% to 455 fatalities in 2022, while the short-term change from 2019 to 2022 is a decline of 7%. The relative share remained constant throughout this time at just over 2% of all EU fatalities.  

The UN Road Safety Collaboration is organizing the global campaign for the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week, which will be held on 12-18 May 2025. World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with partners, are organizing periodic UN Global Road Safety Weeks. This 8th edition offers an opportunity to spur action at national and local levels to make walking and cycling safe, by highlighting concrete and specific interventions that can be taken by different stakeholders – governments, international agencies, civil society, businesses and schools. These actions will help promote and facilitate a shift to walking and cycling, which are more healthy, green, sustainable and economically advantageous modes of transport. 

The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Transportation Systems are organizing the 37th ICTCT Conference which will take place in Berlin, Germany, on 23-24 October 2025. The objective of this Conference is to support the understanding and the execution of suitable approaches to move towards a transportation system without severely injured or killed road users. Due to the rapid progress in the development of powerful computing technology and the enormous potential of artificial intelligence, participants will have the opportunity to uncover the effects of traffic infrastructure, physical conditions, traffic environment and other risk factors, as for example human behaviour, on traffic safety. Researchers can sumbit their abstracts until 15 April 2025. 

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Traffic Safety Culture Thematic Report which emphasizes on growing a positive Traffic Safety Culture (TSC). This Thematic Report highlights that TSC encompasses shared values, norms, and attitudes that impact behaviours across the road system, influencing not only individual road users but also key stakeholders such as public authorities, private companies, NGOs, vehicle manufacturers, and infrastructure designers. An important way to leverage TSC as a concept to improve road safety is through organisations and companies, also preventive efforts to tackle risk behaviours should be made, ideally by focusing on long-term behavioural change.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Professional Drivers Thematic Report which mainly refers to the safety of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and buses. This Thematic Report highlights that the safety of HGVs and buses are significantly influenced by road infrastructure due to their unique characteristics such as mass, maneuverability, and acceleration/deceleration capabilities, as well as the fatigue and distraction of the drivers. Furthermore, countermeasures about separating these heavy vehicles from other road users, providing professional drivers with timely warnings about hazardous or restricted road sections and addressing the need for adequate and well-managed overnight parking facilities for HGVs are suggested.  

The European Commission with the active contribution of NTUA, SWOV, VIAS Institute and KFV has published at the European Road Safety Observatory, the Children Thematic Report which refers to the safety of children. This Thematic Report highlights that children are, along with elderly people, the most vulnerable road users with boys being most at risk due to greater exposure and risk-taking behaviour. Moreover, a series of specific countermeasures are suggested, such as road infrastructure that prioritizes vulnerable users, 30 km/h zones around childcare facilities, mandatory protective equipment, the enhancement of active and passive vehicle safety, traffic laws with strict penalties, as well as better Traffic Safety and Mobility education in schools.  

The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and the International Transport Forum (ITF) organized with great success the 39th Meeting which took place in London, UK, on 9-10 April 2025. In this meeting, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. Members and observers from many countries enriched the discussion aimed to improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to road safety data collection and analysis.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Smart Maps supporting safe driving behavior using multi-source large-scale data

The European Commission published the collision matrix for fatalities on rural roads in the EU. The available EU-wide data for 2023 contained in the CARE database, demonstrate that 52% of road traffic fatalities occurred in rural areas, with vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooters and users of powered two-wheelers) representing almost 36% of total fatalities. This collision matrix shows clearly that rural road user fatalities occur overwhelmingly when a crash involves cars and heavy vehicles (lorries and heavy goods vehicles). Furthermore, the high number (41% of total fatalities) of fatalities in single vehicle crashes involving cars and motorcycles demonstrate the critical role of speeding on rural roads.   

The European Commission published the collision matrix with fatalities on urban roads in the EU. The available EU-wide data for 2023 contained in the CARE database, demonstrate that 38% of road traffic fatalities occured in urban areas, with vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, users of powered two-wheelers and personal mobility devices) representing almost 70% of total fatalities. This collision matrix shows clearly that urban road user fatalities occur overwhelmingly when a crash involves cars and lorries, underlining the need to improve protection of these vulnerable road users. Furthermore, the high number (44% of the total fatalities) of fatalities in single vehicle crashes of cars and two-wheelers demosntrate the critical role of speeding in the cities.   

The European Commission published a breakdown of fatalities in the EU by road user and (other) “main vehicle” involved in the crash. The matrix shows clearly that fatalities overwhelmingly occur in collisions involving cars, and the need  to increase the protection of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motorcyclists, cyclists and e-scooter riders. EU policies are already evolving in this direction with the new mandatory safety measures introduced by the General Safety Regulation focused on VRUs.  

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organized with great success its bi-annual Main Council Meeting which was held in Krakow, Poland on April 3-4, 2025, where all the latest road safety developments and policies in Europe were discussed. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  City-wide 30km/h Speed Limit at the New Road Code of Greece & the NTUA Marathons Campaign

The World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS) is organizing the 17th World Conference on Transport Research which will be held in Toulouse, France, on 6-10 July 2026.  For the last 40 years, WCTR has been organized every three years by the WCTR Society, uniting specialists from the transportation sector worldwide. Topics for discussion at the World Conference on Transport Research are grouped into 9 distinct themes which include maritime and air transport logistics, infrastructure design, traffic management in urban environments or the emergence of transport in developing countries. Researchers can submit their papers until 1 September 2025. 

BMW in cooperation with Chip Design Germany are organizing the 2025 BMW Summer School which will take place in Saint-Raphaël, France on 29 June – 4 July 2025. This year’s event will focus on the topic of trust and safety in artificial intelligence, a broad field of discussion and growing relevance at the crossroads of technology, psychology, product safety, law, economics, and ethics. Submission deadline is extended to April 7, 2025.